first post. college next year...

[JoeMhama]

Im a KSU alum (Dec 05) who majored in flight technology. The program was great but it looks like the price of your education will be double what I paid for mine. That is something to seriously consider if you plan on going that route. Student loans are serious business that will affect the rest of your financial life. Its almost like buying a house. You will have a mandatory 'mortgage' for a very long time, with very meager earnings for a very long time...

I CFI'd for two years then got a 121 job in May 07 and was furloughed May 09. Because I majored in how to be a pilot, I had nothing to fall back on. I cant even get a CFI job in my area. My unemployment is up and I dont have a job and I have no prospects of anything that will make me any money.

Long story short...dont major in aviation. Get a nursing degree or something that is in demand and will always be in demand. If you go to KSU, minor in flight tech!!!

 

[Maurus]

I say it doesn't matter what you get your degree in. If you get to an airline or instruct for a few years and then lose your job, I argue that even with a non aviation degree you will have the same difficulty finding a job.

Fall back degrees makes sense in the short term, but once you are out of your chosen degree's field for a period of time you will forget key items and also be behind because of new technology advances and such that new graduates would know. The lack of experience and the lack of currency in the field would put you with everyone else that had gotten aviation degrees.

 

[ExFr8dwg]

I'll throw in my $0.02. I'm from NW ohio, went to ohio state, got an engineering degree, and also did the majority of my flight training at the osu flight school. I agree with the above posters in that you should not get an aviation degree and look at doing your flight training at a part 61 school. By training part 61 you'll be able to go at your own pace, which could very well be much faster and cheaper than you would at a university flight school. I would also recomend getting some real world experience in your degree field prior to graduation, i.e. internship or co-op. I wish I had. I've been out of school for a little over 4 years and on my second furlough, and my engineering degree is not helping much find a job due to the fact that I've been out of it for so long and I have no actual work experience in engineering. I also agree that you should look at schools with NIFA flight teams. OSU, OU, and Kent all have them. They'll will help you to become a much better pilot and give you an opportunity to network with other pilots that are already in the industry. Good luck and don't hesitat to ask if you have any other questions.

 

[N18040]

Which ones? Trans Cat? Instruments?

I was thinking more along the lines of Trans Cat Lab, but those would probably fit the bill too. Oh, CAD was in there too, and Bib Foundations.

 

[OhioStatePilot]

I'll throw in my $0.02. I'm from NW ohio, went to ohio state, got an engineering degree, ...

O-H!!!!!



I also went to Ohio State and got my degree in Aviation Management. I really would advise, like the others, to branch outside of aviation for your college degree. With my aviation degree, I'm finding I don't have many options in these lean times. Besides, with regards to flight training, I went part 61 for my private and will continue to use part 61 through my commercial certificates. It's not only cheaper, but I was more impressed with the quality of training in part 61. Honestly, the reason for this is that through the flight program, the routes and conditions of student flights were very tightly controlled while as a part 61 student, I had more freedom to stretch my own decision-making skills.

 

[drunkenbeagle]

I've been out of school for a little over 4 years and on my second furlough, and my engineering degree is not helping much find a job due to the fact that I've been out of it for so long and I have no actual work experience in engineering.

Like anything else, a lot of it is networking. Every job/project I have had was because of someone I went to school or worked with. And that's a lot of projects, I was freelance for 5 years.

In my experience - it is easy to find someone qualified to do anything. People hire people they like working with and being around, that's far more important than your GPA or major.

 

[motoboy]

that's awesome! how do you like ksu?

Ksu is fun, looking back on things though I wish I would of went to OSU or OU. I have friends at both schools and always have a blast going to visit them.

 

[jtrain609]

I went to Western Michigan to fly airplanes.

I came in with my private.

I lasted a semester in the program before I decided it wasn't worth what they were charging.

I went through four majors, spent four years in the marching band, met my future wife, drank enough, played enough video games, blah blah blah.

I finished my ratings the last summer before my final semester at school (I was in school 4.5 years).

I walked out with a degree in philosophy.

I had ZERO PROBLEMS FINDING THREE JOBS IN RAPID SUCCESSION.

YOU DO NOT NEED A DEGREE IN AVIATION.

Network the crap out of yourself, and you'll be in a good position.

People will say that a degree in anything other than aviation is useless because you'll be out of the loop.

That's crap.

Set yourself up with a backup degree that will provide you with an alternative LONG TERM CAREER. I'm currently in law school, and while I have to spend an extra 3 years in school, it's a long term investment in my future. If you get a prelaw degree, be ready to go to law school one day. If you get a business degree, be prepared to be an MBA later in life.

You will not find ANY degree where you can simply jump from one industry to the other, it simply doesn't happen in any industry. More so, that's not the point of a backup degree. A backup degree is an entire backup CAREER PLAN that you hope you don't have to pull the trigger on, but sometimes you do.

Such is life. I'd recommend you prepare the way I have, but of course I'm not really that angry that I'm not flying airplanes for a living anymore. When I was 19 I thought that airplanes were EVERYTHING, and then I met my wife.

 

[PGT]

I went to Western Michigan to fly airplanes.

I came in with my private.

I lasted a semester in the program before I decided it wasn't worth what they were charging.

I went through four majors, spent four years in the marching band, met my future wife, drank enough, played enough video games, blah blah blah.

I finished my ratings the last summer before my final semester at school (I was in school 4.5 years).

I walked out with a degree in philosophy.

I had ZERO PROBLEMS FINDING THREE JOBS IN RAPID SUCCESSION.

YOU DO NOT NEED A DEGREE IN AVIATION.

Network the crap out of yourself, and you'll be in a good position.

People will say that a degree in anything other than aviation is useless because you'll be out of the loop.

That's crap.

Set yourself up with a backup degree that will provide you with an alternative LONG TERM CAREER. I'm currently in law school, and while I have to spend an extra 3 years in school, it's a long term investment in my future. If you get a prelaw degree, be ready to go to law school one day. If you get a business degree, be prepared to be an MBA later in life.

You will not find ANY degree where you can simply jump from one industry to the other, it simply doesn't happen in any industry. More so, that's not the point of a backup degree. A backup degree is an entire backup CAREER PLAN that you hope you don't have to pull the trigger on, but sometimes you do.

Such is life. I'd recommend you prepare the way I have, but of course I'm not really that angry that I'm not flying airplanes for a living anymore. When I was 19 I thought that airplanes were EVERYTHING, and then I met my wife.

read that, like twice. It's everything you wanna you know, x 2

 

[Realms09]

alright, i will check on that. who are some other possible employers? what are some possible job titles?

Airlines need engineers to work in the maintenance department. But really, you should get in touch with the career centers at your prospective schools to learn where graduates with different degrees actually go. Get some stats (10 people went to work at company A, 5 went to work at company B, etc.) and try to connect with some real alumni. These places will be the easiest for you to work at right out of school because of the strong built-in networking your school provides. Working at other places is absolutely possible, but you will have to network harder to get there.